Ohio index of pending home sales rises in September

Despite interest rates flirting with increases and concerns about the federal government’s shutdown, the Ohio Association of Realtors announced today that its pending home sales index increased through September .
Ohio’s September pending home sales index of 141.9 rose 10.5% from the September 2012 index score of 128.5.
Meantime, the National Association of Realtors reported, the national index fell 5.6% to 101.6 in September from a downwardly revised 107.6 index in August. The group blamed the downturn on higher mortgage interest rates early in the month, although they have since crept downward, and higher home prices, which curb buying power.
In a news release announcing the Ohio statistics, Thomas J. Williams, Ohio Association of Realtors president, said the number of homes put under contract in September market the 29th straight month of year-over-year gains in home sales put under contract. OAR does not release comparisons to the prior month in the index.
Northeast Ohio Realtors said the government shutdown slowed things down, but they saw buyers returning to the market as soon as news broke that a deal had been reached to end the shutdown.
Donna Templeton, an agent at the Howard Hanna office in Amherst, Ohio, said in an email, “The government shutdown slowed activity dramatically, in my opinion. But we did list three homes this past week. We’re hoping this continues so we can keep our economy moving.”
David Sharkey, president of Progressive Urban Real Estate in Cleveland, said things got quiet during the government shutdown but picked up immediately after a deal was struck.
He thinks a challenge for the market going forward is the lack of listings.
“One thing that drives (residential) real estate is exciting listings,” Mr. Sharkey said. “We get exciting listings, but in 10 days, they’re gone.”
The index compares contract signings for sales of single-family homes and condominiums. The NAR index uses 2001, the first year it produced the index as a base year while OAR uses 2008 as its base.
For example, in the OAR index, an index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2008, which marked the end of five consecutive record years for existing home sales and the onset of the recession. Activity levels in 2008 are reflective of a historically healthy, balanced market, according to OAR.